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yankee-in-france
 Posted:
Fri May 23, 2008 10:11 am |
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Newspaper & Magazine Articles
Coming Soon
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YIF
Joined: 30 Mar 2006
Posts: 6562
Location: France
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| Obscuregawdess
Posted:
Fri May 23, 2008 3:16 pm |
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Re: Newspaper & Magazine Articles
| yankee-in-france wrote: | | Coming Soon |
I wonder if I should also title it & Other Media?  I am going to add a transcript from the news, even though it was in some magazine... jut not sure which.
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"Bratty Mama Leci"
Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11754
Location: Kentucky
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| Obscuregawdess
Posted:
Fri May 23, 2008 3:17 pm |
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Pam Hobbs on Terry Hobbs (Region 8 News)
http://www.wm3.org/live/newsevents/newsitem.php?news_Id=182
Part 1: Nov. 7, 2007
"I found out that my worst nightmare of this lifetime was really true. He was dead."
In 1993 Pam Hobbs said the words no parent wants to say, her son 8-year-old Steve Branch was dead; part of a triple homicide in West Memphis.
14 and a half years later she reflects.
"If Stevie was still here, I would be a very proud and honored mother, just as I am of the eight precious years I did have with him," said Hobbs.
But those years were cut tragically short, and a year later three West Memphis teens were convicted of capital murder.
Now, Hobbs says new evidence makes her think differently about Damien Echols, Jesse Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin.
"I asked 14 years ago, God if these guys are not guilty grant them another trial and give me the strength to accept who the real person is. I'm prepared," said Hobbs.
Now as she meets with her attorney David Rees and gets ready to help the West Memphis Three fight for their innocence, I ask her if she ever really thought they were guilty back in 93.
"It was a point of anger that someone did this to my child. Did I really believe it, no, not 100 percent that they did it. I didn't believe they were capable enough or smart enough to have committed the crime, cleaned the scene up and be guilty for it," said Hobbs.
So if the West Memphis Three were to get off and get out of prison, the biggest question is how would the parent of a victim react?
"I would love to meet them. I would ask them personally to forgive me. I would let them know that they spent 14 and a half of their years in a world where even I don't know anything about. If I could assist them to learn how to live in the free world, I'm behind them 100 percent," said Hobbs.
And that's only the beginning of what Pam Hobbs shared in our Region Eight News exclusive interview.
Thursday night on Region Eight News at five and six, find out why she says her ex-husband could have been capable of murder, and where she finds peace 14 and a half years after her son's death.
Part 2: Nov. 8, 2007
Pam Hobbs says she is now out for justice and wants to find out who really killed her son, Steve Branch.
She says with the help of her attorney, David Rees, she is hoping for a retrial of the West Memphis Three and to finally get a chance to say she's sorry.
t's part two of a Region Eight News exclusive interview.
"I would love to meet them. I would ask them personally to forgive me, and let them know that they spent 14 and a half years in a world that even I don't know anything of. If I could assist them to live in the free world, I'm behind them 100 percent," said Hobbs.
Those words were the ones many never thought they would hear from the mother of a murdered 8-year-old when talking about those convicted of the crime.
But Pam Hobbs says new evidence produced by the convicted killers' defense team has led her to forgiveness, and now she's teaming up with attorney David Rees to fight for justice.
"I chose to have someone represent me and guide me on what direction I need to take to be reassured that justice will be done, and that the killer or killers of my son will be behind bars," said Hobbs.
Both Hobbs and Rees believe the trials of the West Memphis Three were jaded from the start.
"Everyday I would go down and I would see the evidence as it was presented. I kept wondering where is the proof," said Rees.
That is why Hobbs says she is now hopeful of a retrial for Damien Echols, Jesse Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin.
"With the evidence now, I really hope it will lead to another trial and show all of the evidence that the prosecution said they had that they did not show the first time," said Hobbs.
Evidence which her attorney feels the prosecution still doesn't have.
"If they have to retry it, they are going to have to figure out totally different theories," said Rees.
And for Hobbs if the West Memphis Three are retried and freed...
"If they are not proven guilty, they will be my best buddies," said Hobbs.
And in our third and final part of the exclusive interview with Pam Hobbs, find out what she says makes her think differently about her ex-husband Terry.
Part 3: Nov. 8, 2007
When new D.N.A. evidence came forward that could prove the West Memphis Three as innocent, fingers started pointing once again.
This time the pressure was off Mark Byers and on Terry Hobbs, the ex-husband of Pam Hobbs.
In an interview earlier this year, he voiced his own opinion of the new evidence.
"It's sad to see that there are people out here trying to get killers out of prison, that deserve, every one of them, to be hung by a rope," said Terry Hobbs.
But D.N.A. evidence could link a hair found on one of the boy's shoelaces to him.
In July I asked Pam if her ex-husband could have been involved in the murders.
"Do you think honestly in your heart that he might have had something to do with this," I asked. "Honestly in my heart...I have to be honest. Possibly," replied Pam Hobbs.
But why did she answer that way? Four months later--the response.
"The manipulation that I lived with through 17 years of living with him, knowing honestly that he was not a loving step-father, that he tries to portray himself to be," said Hobbs.
But character aside, I ask Pam Hobbs if there was ever any abuse in their relationship that would lead her to think this.
"He'd hit me and I'd hit him back. I didn't back down, you know. We would always get into it when Stevie was alive about him being a little bit too rough. He would tell me not to tell him how to discipline our children," said Hobbs.
But were Terry's tactics and ways of discipline enough to warrant him as a murderer?
"Well, I'd have to laugh at that and say there is something wrong with anyone who would think that," said Terry himself.
And only time will tell if the West Memphis Three will be freed, and whether or not anyone else will ever be charged with the crime.
However, as time stretches on Pam Hobbs says she's found her peace in a place where her son can rest.
"I find his grave to be my place of peace now. That's where I go when I really need to just get away from the world and quit thinking about stuff and find my peace, that's where I go," said Pam Hobbs.
And Region Eight News will continue to track the latest developments in the case of the West Memphis Three.
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"Bratty Mama Leci"
Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11754
Location: Kentucky
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| Obscuregawdess
Posted:
Fri May 23, 2008 3:25 pm |
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Good articles to read:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89551988&ft=1&f=1003
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0804/S00202.htm
http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/Content?oid=oid%3A33522
http://www.bayareanewsblog.com/?p=18
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"Bratty Mama Leci"
Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11754
Location: Kentucky
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| Obscuregawdess
Posted:
Fri May 23, 2008 3:27 pm |
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Judge Burnett is incompetent, IMO...
http://www.arktimes.com/blogs/arkansasblog/2008/04/west_memphis_three_case.aspx
(And oil linked to WM3 ? Man, man, man!)
Arkansas Blog
« Sharp decision | Main | Anti-anorexia »
West Memphis Three case
Looks like a hearing on the absence of DNA evidence against the three convicts will go on in September.
Posted by Max Brantley on April 15, 2008 10:44 AM | Permalink
Comments
"I want to wrap this up. It's been 15 years. I'm ready to get it over with one way or the other," Burnett told a packed courtroom. "I don't care what the outcome is. I just want the attorneys to do their business so I can do mine."
I don't know a thing about Judge Burnett, but it sure sounds like these proceedings are a real bother to him.
I bet they've been a real bother to the WM3, too.
Posted by: hugh mann | April 15, 2008 11:21 AM
It's a reminder that prosecuting attorneys aren't as interested in guilt or innocence as much as convictions and getting elected.
Any prosecuting attorney, jury member or judge who participates in sending an innocent person to jail or death is guilty of a serious crime.
In this case, if the WM3 are exonerated, justice would demand that those who convicted them go on trial for attempted capital murder.
If we sent a few prosecuting attorneys to the death chamber, I think they'd worry a lot more about if the accused is really guilty or not.
Posted by: The Levee | April 15, 2008 12:00 PM
That's funny....September is when General BeTrayus is going to take another look at the War for Oil in Iraq. Is there a connection to the WM3? One of the problems with humans is that a job becomes just a job after a while. Prosecuting attorneys, like BeTrayus are just doing their job. It's not about right or wrong or justice, it's about clearing a job off their books so they can keep getting a paycheck. It becomes not much more than a math problem to be solved.
Wait till September....sure, who cares that 3 guys have to sit and rot till then? Who cares if a couple hundred more American troops die for a lie between now and then. It's just a job, it's nothing personal, it's just a job.
(...)
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"Bratty Mama Leci"
Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11754
Location: Kentucky
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| Obscuregawdess
Posted:
Fri May 23, 2008 3:29 pm |
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Terry Hobbs
New Evidence in West Memphis Murders
Jul 19, 2007 at 10:07 AM
Huge news day on the WM3 front. DNA does not match Damien Echols but does happen to match Stevie Branch's step-father, Terry Hobbs. This also means John Mark Byers has pretty much been cleared of suspicion. A twist no one saw coming.
ARKANSAS TIMES
by Mara Leveritt
Reviving an investigation that ended 14 years ago, West Memphis police recently questioned the mother and stepfather of Stevie Branch, one of three 8-year-old boys murdered in 1993. Three teenagers were convicted of the killings.
In a telephone interview on Monday, Stevie’s stepfather, Terry Hobbs, confirmed that West Memphis police had videotaped an interview with him within the last three weeks. Pam Hobbs, Stevie’s mother, also said she had been interviewed by police. The Hobbses are now divorced.
Terry Hobbs, who lives in Bartlett, Tenn., said police requested the interview with him as a result of recent DNA tests on items found with the bodies. Prior to the police interview, he said, he had been informed of the test results by Ron Lax, a Memphis private investigator.
Terry Hobbs said, “Ron claims that a piece of my hair is in the knots that tied up [victim] Michael Moore.”
“Does that bother me?” Hobbs continued. “No, ma’am, it does not. Why? Because I don’t believe a thing he has to say because he’s working for the defense team. And because if my DNA was at the crime scene, I think [Prosecuting Attorney] Brent Davis would be the one to call me about that, and not Ron Lax.”
Attorneys for the convicted men have said no DNA was found that matches their clients.
Terry Hobbs said police asked him “a bunch of questions” about his activities on May 5, 1993 — the day Stevie, Michael and Christopher Byers, the third victim, disappeared — and the following day, when the boys’ bodies were discovered submerged in a drainage ditch. He declined to answer further questions about what he was asked by police.
Pam Hobbs, who lives in Blytheville, said a lieutenant for the West Memphis Police Department also questioned her about her family’s activities around the time of the slayings. In the last couple of months, she has stated publicly that she now believes that the men convicted of the murders — Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr . — are not guilty.
“We have stages of grieving that we go through,” she said. “I guess I came to forgiveness. I’ve always wanted to know the truth, and when I was called by the defense — knowing the DNA was being retested — I guess that was the big eye-opener.”
Pam Hobbs said she “chose to believe all those years” that Echols, Baldwin and Misskelley were guilty, despite her realization during the trials that the prosecutors “didn’t have anything” and persistent doubts afterwards that the defendants “were smart enough or hateful enough to have done it by themselves and clean it up.”
The state medical examiner ruled that Stevie and Michael died by drowning and that Christopher, who’d suffered stab wounds to his groin, died from loss of blood.
Pam Hobbs said that in 2002, at a point when she and Terry Hobbs were separating, she sent a package containing “14 or 15 knives” owned by her husband to one of the defense lawyers.
Pam Hobbs said that she had done so after discovering among the knives “a little pocket knife” that her father had given to Stevie.
She said Stevie “carried it around with him all the time, because it was like part of his granddaddy. He would have had it May the fifth. He carried it with him from the day my daddy gave it to him until the day he was murdered.”
Asked why, five years ago, she had given the knives to a lawyer for the defense, she said it was because she “didn’t trust the prosecution ... because of the evidence that was not presented at the trials.”
Terry Hobbs dismissed the knives as having had “nothing to do with anything.”
“I’d bought some, and found some and Pam bought me some. I just threw them in a drawer, and that’s where they’d been for years.” He added, “Them knives were stolen out of my home and I’m fixing to try to get them back.”
Asked whether one of the knives was a pocket knife given to Stevie by his grandfather, Terry Hobbs responded: “I don’t know. It could have been. And it could have been it was in the drawer because we didn’t want him to have it. I didn’t want a kid of mine to go around with a pocket knife — not a kid who was 8 years old. Would you?”
Terry Hobbs said, “I raised Stevie from the time he was a year and a half, until he was 8. I tried to be a good daddy.”
As for his ex-wife, he said, “Pam’s got some problems. This thing has taken a toll on her. It’s really hurt her.
“I don’t think she really supports the idea they [the convicted men] are innocent. I think she’s doing it out of anger. As a matter of fact, I know it’s out of anger. It’s being angry at the world and not knowing how to deal with her anger.
“It’s kind of sad. And I’m really sorry that people think she supports that theory.”
Pam Hobbs acknowledges that she has “held anger toward Terry,” in part because of his actions on the night Stevie disappeared.
Terry usually got off work by 4 p.m., she said, in time to watch Stevie and their daughter Amanda, while Pam went to her job at a restaurant. On the day of the murders, Stevie, who had gone riding bikes with Michael, was supposed to be home at 4:30. He had not returned by 4:45, when Pam left for her job.
She said she assumed that he was just late, and that it was not until 9 p.m., when Terry drove to the restaurant with Amanda to pick her up, that she realized Stevie was not in the car.
“Terry told me he really thought he was going to find him and he didn’t want to burden me at work,” she said. “ But I held anger toward Terry over that — that he didn’t tell me Stevie was missing.”
Another element of her anger, Pam Hobbs said, relates to her brother, whom Terry Hobbs shot in the abdomen during an altercation 10 years ago. That brother died last year.
Terry Hobbs dismisses the episode. “The truth is,” he said, “when a man is trying to kill you, you have a right under the United States Constitution to defend and protect yourself.”
Nevertheless, he acknowledged that he was charged with aggravated assault, fined and placed on probation.
When asked if she now considers her ex-husband a suspect in the murders, Pam Hobbs answered, “Yeah. And I don’t know if it’s because of the anger I still hold toward him for not telling me when Stevie was missing, and from some of his other actions or not. But I haven’t been able to shake that feeling.”
For his part, Terry Hobbs said he’s not worried and that he has nothing to hide. With regard to the retested DNA, he said, “I’ve been told that nothing that’s going on right now is going to change a thing.”
Asked who’d given him that assurance, he replied, “Brent Davis,” the prosecuting attorney.
Davis would not comment on what Terry Hobbs said about either the reported DNA or the chance that new findings would change the case. When asked who ordered the renewed questioning by West Memphis police, he explained, “I can’t comment on anything, one way or another, as it’s still in appeals and litigation.”
http://kathybakken.vox.com/library/post/new-evidence-in-west-memphis-murders.html
(Also, IIRC, Hobbs refused to take a polygraph.) "Bratty Mama Leci"
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"Bratty Mama Leci"
Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11754
Location: Kentucky
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| Obscuregawdess
Posted:
Fri May 23, 2008 3:35 pm |
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John Mark Byers Interview (when he supported their guilt)
~From the Leeza Gibbons Show~
http://members.tripod.com/~VanessaWest/byersint.html
Leeza Gibbons: This is one of the most despicable crimes I have ever heard of. I mean, heartbreakingly sad, brutal. As you well know, the guests on this show did not want to appear with you. Do you feel the same way about them?
John Mark Byers: Yes, in a way I do because it’s gonna be a real one-sided story. there’s quite a few of them, and I’m the only one standing up for the victims. I am not the villain.
LG: Well there are those who feel (and I know this is not news to you) that those three teenage boys who have charged with this crime and who are incarcerated right now are innocent. That they were convicted with no material evidence and that you perhaps are the real killer.
JMB: Leeza, let’s talk about material evidence, that’s a very good subject. There was a lot of material evidence: there were hair fibers (sic), there were fibers, and hair that was found and matched on (sic) the homes of the three. There was blue candle wax found on the Boy Scout shirt that Michael Moore wore, and they found a broken [unintelligible] in Damien Echols’ trailer. I think it was by Anton Levey and it had a blue candle sitting there and dripping on the book. Those two candle waxes (sic) matched exactly.
LG: That is being disputed.
JMB: Well, that’s what was told into the police record, that I believe candle wax was there.
LG: Why do you think three teenage boys would abduct these little children and torture them? For what reason? What would be the motivation for that kind of a crime?
JMB: The motivation was known a year before it happened. After the court case was over and the documents were released, there was a reporter by the name of Bartholomew Sullivan who writes for the Commercial Appeal. And of course he does like a reporter and starts digging through, and it was found where Damien had been arrested about a year before on some type of charge. And he got to talking to the police, this is on police records and everything, and he told them that there was a cult there because they were asking him about dead animals they had found burnt and sacrificed with candles and things around different places outside the community. He said that he was the leader of a cult group there in West Memphis, and they were tired of animal sacrifices and were going to start to have human sacrifices.
LG: He claims he never said that!
JMB: Well it’s in the police records. So the police are lying or he is.
LG: The criminal profiler who was brought on to evaluate the evidence in this case said there is absolutely nothing to indicate this was a satanic ritual. He goes on to say, and I know you’re familiar with this document, “it is the opinion of this examiner that the primary reason for these killings was punitive, the victims were being punished for some real or perceived wrong.”
JMB: I totally disagree with that. It’s his opinion and he’s entitled to it.
LG: He’s an expert in the area.
JMB: Expert to me, is a spurt to a drip of water. [unintelligible] So he can take his expert opinion and go with it. I’m the one who lost a child, not him. That’s like him trying tell me how to raise my son when he has no children.
LG: It must infuriate you then as you sit here as an innocent, grieving father; it must infuriate you that fingers are pointed at you and that someone thinks that you did this.
JMB: There are what I classify morons, fools and idiots and that goes across the world wide! Some of them will go to believe anything but you cannot sit there ad deny that you do not know that there are cults and satanic groups across the country. Anton Levay, a very famous man before he passed away, had written many articles on black magic, witchcraft. And Damien’s medical records that his defense lawyer (sic) entered where he had been seeing his psychiatrist and everything. He wrote in there that like he was a wolf and all the people on the face of the earth were his sheeps (sic) and he was going to kill as many of them as he could. Those were his words.
LG: What about some of the words that have been attributed to you? Things such as reports that came back from the school that you and your wife had said to the teachers that you’ve been having problems and if you continued to have problems with him, you’re going to have to get rid of him.
JMB: "Get rid of him" was never said. Here’s what we did for our son; he was prematurely born, 25 weeks early, -- SIX MONTHS + ONE WEEK-- he fought hard to live and he was premature. He was also diagnosed, we didn’t know ’til he was about four, that he had A.D.D and was hyperactive and he was dyslexic.
LG: Did you never say you wanted to get rid of your son?
JMB: Ahhh! Would you get rid of your children?
LG: Well of course not!
JMB: Well of course not.
LG: But you never said that?
JMB: Never in my life have I ever said I wanted to get rid of my son. He was my best friend, he would come home from school and work with me in my shop, and I’d let him make jewelry with me. We went hunting together, fishing together, I was a Boy Scout ranger (sic) with him and pee wee baseball with him. Uh, the Boys Club footballs. I did everything with him!
LG: The day that the boys disappeared, the police reports indicate that you volunteered information about something that had gone on between you and Christopher that day. That he was skateboarding in the middle of the road, you were worried about his safety, and you punished him. You gave him a whipping.
JMB: Yes. A whipping accounted to a belt very similar to the one I have on, just a little woven belt, and it was kept there on the door. The children were never beat (sic) or abused. But my stepson, or my son, had on Levi blue jeans and I gave him two swats across the back end, similar to a rolled up paper that you’d pop a puppy dog with.
LG: Why did you tell the police about the whipping?
JMB: I was telling them the truth. They asked me what all had gone on since you found him, what happened when you came in the house, what happened when (sic) the last time you saw him, what was he doing. And I had nothing to hide, so why not tell them?
LG: Much has been made of a knife that you gave to a camera crew, was that a hunting knife?
JMB: Oh no, Ma’am, it was a little utility knife bought from Snap-on Tools to cute cable and tape and the camera man had just a little old broken-off piece of a knife that wasn’t worth anything. And they were having Thanksgiving dinner at our house and I had gotten it for Christmas from my wife three years earlier, she thought I would like it because I did hunt a lot, and fish. She thought it would be good for scaling fish basically because of the little narrow serrated edge like on a steak knife. But I didn’t like it, it was kept put up in the living room for quite a while and then was in the bedroom. The police came through the house and the other investigators came through the house two or three times and saw it, looked at it, picked it up and put it right back down.
LG: Was this the type of knife that was used in the crime against the boys?
JMB: Oh no it certainly wasn’t! The type of knife that they found was like one of the big Rambo survival knives with the great big edges ad gashes on the back side. Let me just ask America to think of this one question: if you’re involved in such a heinous crime and you have the murder weapon, now let’s think logically here people, would you take that knife home and keep it? That and have it cleaned up until there was nothing but a little trace so small that they could only get blood type through DNA (sic). Now would keep that around in your house and give it to a man on the movie crew who’s going to be around everybody in there, or would you take that big Rambo survival knife, and there Jason Baldwin lived at the trailer park with a big lake behind it, and throw that knife as far as you could out in that lake? They found it a few months later, it’s not rusty, it hadn’t been there long at all. Now which would you do?
LG: My understanding is that it wasn’t a big knife that was used, that it was a smaller knife.
JMB: That’s incorrect. I can tell you how that’s incorrect, the prosecuting attorneys Brent Davis and John Fogelman, when they had started the closing argument to the jury, John Fogelman brought two grapefruits and he showed a picture of one of the boys that was cut across the stomach and abdomen (sic) area. Where the knife had gone in and just kind of gadged (sic) one of them open. Well, when you put the knife down on the picture print and when they applied it to the body, the gap between each one of them was like this far apart. And he took the grapefruit, hit it pretty hard with the big serrated knife and you could see the real jagged jumps like this on the pineapple (sic)! He took my knife, hit it just as hard and it was just a straight line.
LG: But that’s the injury to the abdomen and perhaps to the head.
JMB: And those other injuries were that type of knife were found throughout the other bodies (sic). Those defensive wounds on Michael Moore on his arms and all, have a straight indention (sic) coming in from the bevel of the blade and then the big jagged edges on the back. My knife had just a fine little serrated edge and cut smooth to the top. I didn’t have that top burr on the top like the survival knife had. And people testified in court that they saw Damien Echols carrying such a knife in his hand.
LG: I apologize for the difficult nature of these questions but I know that you’ve been through the trial and you’ve talked about it before.... Of the three boys, your son Christopher sustained the most injuries. He was the only one who was emasculated, he was stabbed repeatedly in the genital area. Expert witnesses have testified that this was done by someone who knew how to use a knife, who knew how to cut basically. Were you trained as a diamond cutter?
JMB: No, ma’am. I was a goldsmith, a jewelry man. I would take gold and colored stones or diamonds and put it together and make a ring. Of the lost [unintelligible] wax method or manufacturing it by fabricating the metal and making it (sic).
LG: Why do you think your son Christopher was the target?
JMB: My only, this is just my opinion, in Jessie Misskelley’s confession my son was hit first over the head with some big club. My prayer’s always been that that knocked him totally unconscious and he didn’t feel anything else and was not aware.
LG: The criminal profiler offers an opinion that whoever did this crime did it to gain control over these boys, that this was obviously not a sex crime. That it was done to teach the boys a lesson, and Christopher in particular.
JMB: Well, that once again like I said is his opinion. My feeling is that him being the first one that Damien Echols got and he basically was one of the smallest. Michael Moore took off running ’til Jessie Misskelley chased him and brought him back. So Damien had time all alone and Jason Baldwin had Steve Branch. Christopher was basically incapacitated when most of his injuries were (sic). The only defense wounds they found were on Michael Moore when they drug (sic) him back, and he must have had his hands up. You know struggling because they were, you know, defense wounds. And then Steve Branch, his face was almost beat off and he was stabbed and cut in certain places. And Christopher, oh my god, people want to think. You said it real politely and to have your -- Let me back up, there was a man that testified, Michael Carson, okay, of what Jason Baldwin told him that he did to my son. Now the defense lawyers want to state in Paradise Lost through interviews that Michael Carson’s probation officer told him all about it. Well now, how can this be? That all these records from the autopsy report and all that was sealed, and did not become public notice ’til it was brought out in court. And Michael Carson testified that day and had heard nothing about it, other than his discussion with the prosecuting attorneys. There’s no way that the probation officer could have told Michael Carson about it, because he couldn’t have known himself. I’m sure you know what they say he did to my son, you know Michael Carson stated he said that he cut his scrotum open, ate his testicles, cut the end of his penis off and he laid there and bled to death as they drank their blood. These aren’t three normal older teenagers. The defense lawyer for Damien Echols started out his opening with "well, ladies and gentlemen, my client is a little weird.”"
LG: Well "weird" and a crime like this is a far stretch in between. These kids --
JMB: But someone who would do that has to be pretty weird!
LG: Someone who would do this would have to have had no conscience. These boys claimed that they were railroaded for this crime because they were different. Because they dressed differently, they like different kinds of music and this was a part of the country that was susceptible to “satanic panic.” The police needed to nail somebody, they needed to get answers to this community about this crime and that this one boy who confessed, who’s mentally challenged, didn’t have enough intelligence to recognize he was being coerced into a confession that was full of holes. They said they all have alibis.
JMB: Yes, they all had alibis. And in court, Jason, Jessie Misskelley and Damien Echols, every one of their so-called alibi witnesses were met and challenged on the stand and were impeached and found their testimony (sic) totally incorrect. Every one of their alibis were bogus.
LG: What about satanic panic?
JMB: As for satanic panic, well, if you lived in a town of 25,000 and around the outside of buildings and all outside of town you see satanic symbols and emblems and find little burnt places on the ground where a fire’s been made, and there’s dog’s parts and animal parts that’s been burned had been there (sic), and candle wax left around, and beer cans, and no telling what all else. Wouldn’t a light bulb pop on and go "what in the world could be going on here?" I mean, Leeza, think about it when you ride around in, say, downtown New York. When you’re near a bad part of town, you don’t need you someone to tell you (sic) you’re in a bad part of town, you know bad things are going on all around you by what is going on all around you.
LG: You talk about the boys’ past history, are there things in your past history that would make you look suspicious as well?
JMB: I cannot see how at all.
LG: Do you have a criminal record?
JMB: No, I do not.
LG: Burglary? Guns?
JMB: Ahhhh, the burglary charge when I was in the mountains was dismissed and dropped.
LG: There was a bite mark on one of the boys. The three teenagers were asked for dental impressions, as were you, they willingly volunteered. And you, as I understand, mysteriously had your teeth knocked out before you could give an impression.
JMB: No, I didn’t mysteriously have my teeth knocked out.
LG: What happened?
JMB: In 1990, when I was starting to have seizures and realized something was going wrong in my body, for 18 months they treated me for epilepsy. And the medication for seizures was Tegretol and Tegretol causes the [unintelligible] disease which eats your gums away from your teeth. I had been in a car wreck a year or so after that, my teeth were just, they were terrible. I couldn’t live with ’em and I had to have them all surgically removed. It wasn’t anything mysterious and I’ve never had anyone contact me and ask me to give any dental records. And for several reasons, when they interrogated everybody at the start, I didn’t know how many of hundreds of people it was, but the group of questions they asked, they asked me the same ones. You know what’s strange? That even though you cant admit a polygraph, the only three people they said that failed the polygraph were the three that were convicted. Jessie Misskelley is the only one that I can say is any part of a man or has any part of a soul at all because, Leeza, I would have someone torture me, beat me to death, do the most terrible thing they could do to me before I would ever confess to doing something that heinous or being in it if I didn’t do it. I would take it to my grave, knowing in my heart that I did not have anything to do with that. Could someone make you say you killed your child?
LG: What if he were not bright enough to recognize it?
JMB: Let’s talk about brightness. Jessie Misskelley, they say he was, you know, a little "handicapped," you might say.
LG: A seventy two IQ.
JMB: Seventy two? Well, if he’s that handicapped, how is he able to pass his GED and a driver’s license and driving test? He must not have been too retarded. True?
LG: A driving test and being able to bluff your way through school unfortunately is a sad commentary on our education system at times.
JMB: Maybe the system failed him but if he can complete his GED and get his diploma and get his driver’s test (sic), I don’t see where he’s retarded. And I was told this directly from one of the jurors that sat on the jury box in Corning, and Jessie Misskelley says it in the movie too, he confirms what this lady told me, that when they were in Corning, he just kept his head down and just acted like he didn’t know what time it was. But when they would take them back out, the jury out the side, there was a hallway and the jurists could look down the hallway and there was a glass in it (sic) and they could see him in it laughing, talking, smoking cigarettes, drinking Coca Colas Part of the big time. So that was just a act (sic) he was putting on in front of them in the jury. Jessie Misskelley said in his jail cell he was interviewed (sic) "well, they just made me play dumb like that. You know they just made me do that". His defense lawyers made him do that, they were making him perceived to be mentally handicapped where someone could control or manipulate him but if you go that route, Charles Manson mind-controlled Tex Ritter (sic) and that group.
LG: Let’s talk about the other loss that you suffered this year, uh afterwards, you lost your wife--
JMB: Yes I did.
LG: What happened with your wife?
JMB: When our son was murdered and I came up on the crime scene, and I saw the tape at the crime tape (sic) where they recorded it all, I busted through it and was wrassled to the ground by two police officers and the inspector saw me and came to me and I asked him ", Have you found him? Have you found him?" And he said yes. I said, " are they alive or what?" And he said it was a homicide. I can remember just being like the lights going out but we still talked. I said, "How did you find him?" and he named the officer that happened to step into this little creek that ran into the main bough [unintelligible]. He saw a tennis shoe. A purple and white Nikes (sic) and I just bought those for Christopher two days before. And then I had to walk home, which was about three blocks, there were other people at the house with my wife but one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do was walk in and see her sitting there emotionally torn up and go over and tell her that our baby’s been murdered. I never had anything that was that hard, it was more than I could even stand. And then the next weeks, it was like I was just in a movie, people telling me when to get up, when to go to bed, when to eat something. Ahhh, we totally lost our mind (sic). My wife lost her will to live, my customers that I had that I was trying to do jewelry for the best I could, I couldn’t do work for them. I was basically, you know, torn up. We were just -- words can’t put into the emotions.
LG: Did grief kill your wife?
JMB: Grief was a big part. She laid down many nights and just begged and prayed god to just take her. She just didn’t want to live any more.
LG: But you had another son together, right?
JMB: No, he was. My wife had two children, Ryan and Christopher. Ryan was about six or seven when we got married, and Christopher was a little under two. I adopted Christopher, and Ryan-- I wanted to adopt him, but his father paid child support and came and saw him fairly regular so we left that, you know. But you know he called me dad and I treated him just like my son.
LG: I understand your wife being overwhelmed with grief but I cant imagine a mother wanting to not live and be there for her other son.
JMB: I posed that question to her and the only answers that I could get was that he tried so hard to live and come into this life, Christopher. And he had it all taken away from him so young, just eight years old, still believed in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. They weren’t out running around being mean kids, they were lured out there and it was plotted.
LG: Did the boys know these teenagers?
JMB: I don’t think they did. There was another fourth boy that was brought up that we won’t mention his name, that supposedly had been active in that group. He was their age that did befriend them, and I think he might have lured them out there not knowing what was going to happen because that was their clubhouse that they played out there.
LG: Everyone believes that whoever took these boys must have been someone that they trusted or knew, that they went willingly.
JMB: That why when the other fourth boy I think he had to be with them and they’re like talking to him. One reason, on May 5th of that year was a full moon and sometimes between the first and the fifth is a satanic holiday. Where if you drink the blood of an unbaptized male child, you will have supernatural powers, you could walk through walls, you could fly. This was in some of the literature that they were reading and studying.
LG: If that were the case, then why wouldn’t they have gotten just one child?
JMB: That’s right, but there were three perpetrators, each one had one.
LG: Your wife, as I understand it and please correct me if I misstate, laid down one day with you. You woke up a couple hours later, and she didn’t.
JMB: Yes, that was March 28 and we had laid down to take a nap, probably around one o’clock and at 3:30 when Ryan came home from school, he opened the bedroom door and we spoke to him. When I got up it was ten to five and I went and got a glass of milk, came back and asked her, you know, if she was thirsty. I tapped on her and you know she didn’t make any movement but she looked fine. Her color was perfect, her lips. She was laying there speechless as could be, I laid my head over on her chest and I couldn’t feel a heartbeat and I started reaching everywhere I could for a pulse. And my neighbor was a medic in the military, then I called him, then 911 was called right after. He was right next door. While he was coming over, I started CPR immediately.
LG: Did you say to the neighbor: "The police are going to accuse me of killing my wife. They’re going to say I smothered her?"
JMB: No, what I said was I hope the police do not treat me the way they did when Christopher was murdered.
LG: Like a suspect?
JMB: Yes, well, everyone was a suspect the police informed me. This is like a jigsaw puzzle and we got to take all the pieces that don’t fit and put them over here, and all the pieces that fit will solve the puzzle. They interrogated me handcuffed to a chair and said "Look we know you did this, we know you’re involved in this, now who helped you and how’d you do it? You might as well come on and confess". I went holding the chair and went over the desk at this officer and got very belligerent and when they restrained me and pulled me back, course I was hyperventilating, the officer looked at me and said "we know you didn’t do it but we had to get your reaction".
LG: The medical examiner did find fluid [unintelligible] in the eyes which would indicate she had been smothered.
JMB: No, there’s no way they found no bruises or abrasions at all. The cause of her death was undeterminable which the state says seven out of ten deaths are undeterminable. She didn’t have a high enough degree of any type of medication but I’ve known of other people who have died from grief. My father died on 9/9 of 190, they’d been married 56 years and on 12/3 of 190 my mother was sitting in a chair, in pretty fair health, and at 10 after 9, she just plunked her head down and died. She didn’t want to live anymore after my father died, so it’s not a real rare thing that people have broken hearts and tragedies can, and do, leave their bodies if they lose the will to live.
LG: Did you say that Christopher may have suffered from Attention Deficit Disorder?
JMB: Yes, he did. We had [unintelligible] pills from the dyslexic school in Memphis and there several other pediatricians to take care of that.
LG: He was taking medication?
JMB: Yes, and he was getting better. So we found out about it in the first grade.
LG: There were reports that show a trace of Ritalin, which is a medication for A.D.D., in him.
JMB: Alright he was bad about forgetting to take his medication, as most children would be, so we took a bottle with like five, or however many he had to have through the day, to his school, and they dispensed it to him. And then he’d been changed to another medication which I don’t remember the name of and he was getting off of Ritalin. So that’s a possibility.
LG: Was someone else taking his medication?
JMB: Not to my knowledge, no.
LG: Were you ingesting the Ritalin?
JMB: Oh no, why I couldn’t do any type of amphetamine or any type of thing like that with the brain tumors that I have and the heart rate. It would be, you know, it could kill any time at all.
LG: Were your medical records subpoenaed with regard to your claims that you’ve had a brain tumor and--
JMB: Yes, the prosecuting attorney Brent Davis.
LG: Were you able to produce this?
JMB: They weren’t asked for, Brent Davis had ’em. They were the copies of the MRIs, and the CAT scans, and the blood work, and the doctors-- two renowned neurosurgeons-- to say what my condition was. And because of all the mental and emotional anguish that I have suffered and been through, I am currently under a doctor’s care to help sleep and depression. I’m just real emotional and stuff.
LG: Two of the boys were found to have, One of them at least, some bruising on his genitals that would indicate that either someone else had been sexually stimulating him, or he had been stimulating himself. At any rate, the sexual appearance is that these were over-sexualized little boys. Do you feel, had there been any evidence, that would indicate that these little boys were having relations with each other?
JMB: Leeza, that would be pure speculation. These three eight-year-old boys were into skateboards, driving bicycles, playing with GI Joe toys. They were eight years old and I know my son had never been exposed to any type of thing like that through magazines, TV or whatever because we didn’t allow it in the house. And the neighbor across the street, the Moores, I don’t think so. And the Hobbs were very devout churchgoing people. All three of us (sic) were and that type of material would not have been in there. So where I think that could have come from, all the three were hog-tied in a similar fashion, but there were two knots tied one way, and one knot tied another according to the experts. Which meant one person tied up two of them, one person ties another because the knots revolved in the things that they have it (sic). And Jessie Misskelley told them things that only someone out there would know.
LG: But he also told them things like, there were so many discrepancies. What was used to tie up the boys, what he said wasn’t exactly what was used-- he got a lot of facts wrong. And if he admitted he did it with the boys, wouldn’t he know it?
JMB: I would imagine because like I said, he was the only one that appeared to have a little decency. He might not have been totally aware of everything that was going to go on. But I have seen and known as you have, many people that confess to a crime they’re in, they want to lessen the part that they did, and add more to what the other did to make themself (sic) not look so badly. So I think he had enough nerve to say what he said, how their clothes were stuck down in the mud. They said it could have been somewhere else than a dump site, there’s no way. After a few weeks I went out there and the police told me it would be like after a nice -- You know how the leaves will just build up in a wooded area? [unintelligible] There was a steep bank up by the water and it was as clean as this glass top table. Not a leaf or anything on it. And they could not use it in court but Gary Gitchell showed me several Polaroid pictures that were taken at night with Luminol, and there were blood spatters everywhere. And the longs -- Damien Echols always wore a long, black trenchcoat in summer, he wore it all the time! That long duster turned up missing, now there was evidence that came out afterwards, that a shirt was found at Jessie Misskelley’s with two of the childrens’ blood type on it, that didn’t get entered into evidence. It was received by a loophole through the prosecution and was inadmissible. Uh, there was also a pair of tennis shoes that belonged to Jessie Misskelley who he gave to a friend because he couldn’t stand to have ’em anymore and he was going to testify for the prosecution. The defense got a ahold of ’em and the shoes disappeared and that lost his testimony (sic).
LG: These boys may get a new trial. How do you feel about that?
JMB: I feel about, Jenny [I swear to god it sounds like that] truthfully, if they get a new trial, they get a new trial. That, in my opinion, will be a total waste of the taxpayer’s dollars.
LG: What do you want to see happen to these boys?
JMB: Ultimately, to stand by their gravesides.
LG: You want them all on death row?
JMB: Yeah, well, one of ’ems on death row, and the other two are in general population so it really doesn’t matter to me. As long as they are never released from jail would be fine but when they’re gone, I made a promise to God to live long enough just to see them dead. That’ll be some closure to me. I’m talking about occult, wicca, those other so-named bands ((sic), they are real, they are out there. Manson1s not preaching Jesus loves you, he’s preaching death, suicide, all types of garbage. Now Marilyn Manson is going to be an idol and someone our teens look up to? What type of chaos do you think we’re in for? This is not rare, a satanic ritual happening somewhere, it’s rare it happened in a small town and got found! It’s not rare because it happens all across America or the world for that matter!
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"Bratty Mama Leci"
Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11754
Location: Kentucky
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| Obscuregawdess
Posted:
Fri May 23, 2008 3:42 pm |
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Dixie Chicks' Natalee Maines
http://www.dixiechicks.com/06_pressDetail.asp?newsID=669
November 26, 2007
Letter from Natalie Maines: WM3 Call to Action
I'm writing this letter today because I believe that three men have spent the past 13 years in prison for crimes they didn't commit.
On May 5th, 1993 in West Memphis, Arkansas three 8 eight-year-old boys, Steve Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore were murdered.
Three teenage boys, Damien Echols, Jesse Misskelley, and Jason Baldwin were convicted of the murders in 1994. Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley received life sentences without parole, and Damien Echols sits on death row.
I encourage everyone to see the HBO documentaries, Paradise Lost and Paradise Lost 2 for the whole history of the case.
I only discovered the films about 6 months ago, and when I finished Paradise Lost 2 I immediately got online to make sure that these three wrongly convicted boys had been set free since the films were released. My heart sank when I learned that the boys were now men and were still in prison. I couldn't believe it.
I searched for answers as to what had been done and what was being done to correct this injustice. I donated to the defense fund and received a letter from Damien Echols wife, Lorri. She is a lovely woman who has dedicated her time and heart to her husband. I was glad to hear that after so many years of fighting for justice it looked like things were finally happening. Below, I have written what the DNA and forensics evidence shows. I hope after reading it and looking at the WM3.org website, you will know that the wrong guys are sitting in jail right now, and feel compelled to help.
Inspired and determined to see the justice system work, many people have worked on this case pro bono for the past 13 years. However, there are still costs that go along with the struggle to freeing these three men.
There has been a wonderful resurgence of interest by the media for this case, but nobody mentions the need for funds. Donations to the defense fund are desperately needed. DNA and forensics tests are expensive. They are also what will finally set these men free. Due to so many people's passion and generosity, what would normally be a case that costs millions is costing a fraction of that. I know around the holidays we all get inundated with deserving causes and charities that are in need of donations, but this can't wait!
With all of the new evidence things are finally moving, and fast!
Any money that you can donate is desperately needed to pay for the experts and the federal court hearing that is just weeks away. There is also a letter campaign that has been started by a new and energized group of people in Arkansas. Click here to download the sample letter. Signing and sending this letter makes it very difficult for this case to be ignored. Please mail the letters to the following address:
Arkansas Take Action
Capi Peck, Coordinator
P.O. Box 17788
Little Rock, AR 72222-7788
After so many years it literally all comes down to this hearing.
The evidence is so strong that at the very least the judge will grant a new trial, but hopefully he will overturn the verdict and these guys will finally be sent home to their lives and families. I know that this is a hard thing to just take my word on, so please look at the case and the evidence for yourself. I am confident that you will see the DNA evidence is irrefutable and that these three men did not get the kind of trial that is promised to us - as Americans.
The system hasn't only failed Damien, Jesse, and Jason, but it has failed the three little boys that were murdered. Their killer(s) is still out there, and justice has yet to be served. Please know that your generosity will make a difference.
Please know that your generosity will make a difference.
Sincerely,
Natalie Maines Pasdar
The following is just some of the DNA and forensic evidence that will be presented in the federal court hearing.
In late October, legal papers were filed in federal court in Arkansas showing that Damien Echols was wrongfully convicted. The 200-page court filing includes DNA evidence that fail to link any of the three boys to the crime scene. This is very important because the prosecution claimed that Echols had sodomized the victims.
-DNA tests also show that a hair belonging to Terry Hobbs, the step-father of one of the victims, was found in the ligature of one of the victims.
-DNA tests also match a hair at the crime scene to a friend of Hobbs that was with him that day.
-DNA test results show foreign DNA-from someone other than Echols, Misskelly, or Baldwin-on the penises of two of the victims.
-Scientific analysis from some of the nation's leading forensics experts, stating that wounds on the victims' bodies were caused by animals at the crime scene-not by knives used by the perpetrators, as the prosecution claimed. These wounds were the centerpiece of the prosecution's case, and evidence was presented that a knife recovered from a lake near one defendant's home caused the wounds.
-Sworn affidavits outlining new evidence uncovered by Pam Hobbs (the ex-wife of Terry Hobbs) who found a knife in Terry Hobbs' drawer that her son (one of the victims) had carried with him at all times. After her son was killed, the knife was not among his personal effects that police gave to the Hobbs family, and Pam Hobbs always assumed that her son's murderer had taken it during the crime.
-New information implicating Terry Hobbs-including his own statements made to police in recent interviews where he acknowledged that several of his relatives suspect him in the crime. The filing also includes a chronology of Hobbs' activities on the night of the crimes, when he washed his clothes and sheets at odd hours for no reason other than to hide evidence from the crimes.
- A sworn affidavit that refutes hearsay evidence from Echols' trial. The mother of one of two girls who testified that they overheard Echols admit to the crime at a softball game now says that Echols' statement was not serious and that neither she nor her daughter believes he committed the crime.
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"Bratty Mama Leci"
Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11754
Location: Kentucky
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| Obscuregawdess
Posted:
Fri May 23, 2008 3:44 pm |
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INTERVIEW WITH DEFENSE
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
West Memphis Three: Interview with Defense Attorney Dan Stidham
In previous posts I have mentioned the case of the West Memphis Three, the three teens (now adults) who were convicted in 1994 for the murder of three eight-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas as an alleged ritual murder perpetrated by members of a satanic cult. Despite the sensationalism surrounding the trial, and that two documentaries and several books have been written as a result of this case, it has received little national mainstream media coverage, and next to none in the Christian community. Dan Stidham was the defense attorney for one of the accused, Jessie Misskelley, and he graciously agreed to answer a few questions related to this fascinating and troubling case.
Morehead's Musings: Judge Stidham, thank you for making time in a busy legal schedule to share a few thoughts related to this case. For readers who may not be familiar with it, can you summarize the case for them beyond what I've mentioned in my introduction?
Dan Stidham: John, it would be an almost impossible task to try and briefly summarize a case that is so complicated and fascinating as this one. When I am invited to speak about the case on college campuses, my basic presentation generally lasts anywhere from 4-6 hours. I usually will turn down any requests for a speaking engagement that won’t allow me at least 4 hours as my powerpoint presentation alone takes at least 4 hours divided into two segments, this just to get through most of the slides and answer a few questions.
The only “one-stop,” if you will, reliable and accurate account of the entire case is Mara Leveritt’s brilliantly written book, Devil’s Knot, and it certainly is not a short read. Once you pick it up, however, you can’t put it down.
The only way I can describe the case in just a few short words is to say that the WM3 case has become an icon for “Injustice in America.” It is a chilling account of just about everything that can go wrong within our criminal justice system if we don’t have the proper safeguards in place.
Morehead's Musings: For those interested in learning more about the case I recommend two HBO documentaries, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills and Paradise Lost 2: Revelations, as well as the book that you have already mentioned by Mara Leveritt, Devil's Knot: The True Story of the West The West Memphis Three (Atria Books, 2002). But there are a a few aspects of this case that I would like to focus on in our interview if we could. First, I am struck by the lack of any significant emphasis on forensics in either the investigation or the trial, and this in a case of triple murder that should have been filled with forensic evidence. Why was this evidence lacking, and why didn't either the Prosecution or the Defense pursue this area in more depth?
Dan Stidham: John, that is an outstanding question. The lack of any physical evidence in this case, a fact that has always been quite candidly admitted to by the Prosecution, is utterly amazing. The convictions are based entirely upon the ridiculous and confusing confession of a mentally challenged teenager with an I.Q. of a five year old child which was corroborated by no real physical evidence in the case at all. The confession itself is just so plainly and patently lacking of any real substance every person that I have ever talked to who actually bothers to read it in it’s entirety is left scratching their heads wondering how this alone could result in anyone’s conviction in our modern day criminal justice system.
I was asked to prepared a synopsis of the evidence in this case after the trials, and it was later updated after I was finally able to consult with some forensics experts on the case post trial after the airing of the initial HBO film. This synopsis appears on the wm3.org website and the link to that page is:
http://wm3.org/live/caseintroduction/synopsis_dan.php
Justice is supposed to be “blind,” but the reality of the situation in Arkansas in 1993 was that is was not. There was no State funded Public Defender system yet in place at the time of the slayings and no Death Penalty Resource Center or Capital Defense system in place at the time of the trials in 1994. In fact, the County and the State fought a rather protracted legal battle over who would be responsible for the legal costs associated with the trials. The County prevailed, and two years later my law partner and I, Greg Crow, finally received $19.00 per hour for the 2000 plus hours that we had expended on the case in defending our client. We had been told that we would receive an average of $50.00 per hour for our work on the case. In addition, we had no money whatsoever other than what Mr. Crow and I could pay out of our own pockets to retain experts which resulted in my having to beg experts to assist us. Two of the best, Dr. Richard Ofshe and Warren Holmes, answered the call for help because they were so convinced after reviewing the case file that my client, and the other two Defendants, were absolutely innocent of these crimes. Ironically, it took two HBO documentaries on the case before other “Freedom Fighters” started showing up to help. I find it less than amusing that some of the same “experts” who refused to even talk to me back in 1993, because I didn’t have $15,000 to retain them, have now rushed to volunteer to work on the case. What a difference a few movies makes!
The State of Arkansas, obviously understanding the shortcomings of the Arkansas Crime Lab and the quality of the Medical Examiner’s office, consulted with experts and laboratories from outside the State. We did not have that luxury. They had unlimited funds and legions of investigators. We had one volunteer investigator, and all our experts were volunteers. Simply stated, we had no funds with which to defend our client.
At trial, Misskelley’s confession with all it’s impossibilities and factual inconsistencies, coupled with the “Satanic Panic” and hundreds of autopsy and crime scene photographs of the victims that were paraded in front of the juries prevailed over the tremendous lack of any real physical evidence and all the examples of “reasonable doubt” that we were able to demonstrate including evidence of alibi. The crimes were so brutal that someone “had to pay.” It is clear that the juries wanted to punish someone really bad. They did. The three Defendants were poor and expendable, and Damien Echols was the perfect “patsy” with all of his pre-trial and Courtroom antics with the media, and displayed in front of the jury.
Morehead's Musings: There have been forensic developments in this case since the trials. Can you touch on some of this?
Dan Stidham: There are some astounding recent developments in the case. There are some things that I can’t discuss because of confidentiality, and there are others that I simply don’t know about yet because we are waiting for more test results to come in. I can confirm what has been published in recent Court filings which are public record and other things that have been reported in the media. First, there has been some DNA recovered from some items of evidence in the case that does not match any of the three convicted men. Secondly, a hair recovered from a ligature that was used to tie up one of the victims has been linked by DNA to one of the victim’s stepfathers.
This is significant for a couple of reasons. First, the hair from the stepfather was not found on a victim that was not his own stepson. This is important in and of itself, but even more important when you think about where the hair was recovered from. It was lodged in the knot of the ligature itself, making the inevitable explanation by the State that it was merely a normal stepfather to stepson “secondary transfer” so ridiculous that one wonders if they will even have the courage to argue it. I can’t go into any more detail, but there are other significant forensic and evidentiary discoveries as well that will shed significant light on this case and make it even more obvious than it already is that the WM3 are innocent of these crimes. And speaking of “courage,” that’s all this case really needs. A little “courage” to do the right thing would go along way right now. I pray each day for someone to simply accept the challenge.
Morehead's Musings: Another area that intrigues me is the prosecution's claim that the three teens allegedly perpetrated this crime as part of an occult ritual which they did as members of a cult. This would seem a foundational part of their case, and yet as the first documentary reveals, the prosecution's "expert" on the occult and Wicca did not possess the necessary education or credentials to discuss let alone substantiate the prosecution's claim, and there is a wealth of good scholarly material available that debunks the existence of satanic cults and occult ritual crime. Why weren't competent scholars brought in to counter this foundational aspect of the prosecution's case?
Dan Stidham: First of all, as you point out, there is no such thing as “Satanic Ritualistic Homicide (SRH)” This is a mere invention by the so-called experts of the day back in 1993. According to the FBI and other research done in the U.K., there has never been a single case of SRH ever documented on the planet.
I know what you are thinking, “What about David Berkowitz and other Serial Killers who have proudly professed that they killed in the name of “Satan.” The difference is that these killings were the work of one deranged individual who suffered from some rather serious and profound psychological disorders, not the work of an organized group of Satanists who are sacrificing children, or even adults for that matter, as part of an organized Satanic Ritual. The “Devil” told me to do it, or the “Devil” in the form of the neighbor’s dog as in the Berkowitz case, are not the same thing as SRH.
Are there Satanists in the world? Sure there are. Do teenagers dabble in the occult? Sure they do. However, there is no evidence that any known group of Satanists have ever engaged in cult style ritualistic slayings. If you buy into the Prosecution’s theory, as set forth by the now “famous for lack of credentials,” Dale Griffis, then you would have to be compelled into believing that the West Memphis Case is the first ever case of SRH ever documented any where in the world.
I remember years ago watching Geraldo Rivera devote an entire episode of his show to the topic. He even had a Catholic Priest on the show as an “expert.” They told millions of viewers that there was a large group of Satanists in this Country that were kidnapping thousands of our children and killing them in “Satanic Rituals” all around the Country. There was a time when every missing kid was generally believed to have been the victim of SRH. These Satanists must be real good at hiding the bodies! Maybe they know where Jimmy Hoffa is?
I do know this, the three teenagers convicted of these horrible crimes, one of which who is on Death Row, are not sophisticated enough to pull off the robbery of a Seven-Eleven, much less a triple homicide. If anyone does believe that they were even remotely this capable, then I suppose that they would also have to believe that:
1. The kids were so sophisticated that they were able to kill all three victims, and sexually mutilate one victim which resulted in a tremendous amount of blood loss by that particular victim, while not leaving any of their own DNA behind at the scene; and
2. They were so sophisticated that they also managed to put a hair from one of the step-fathers inside a ligature binding one of the victims so that they could frame him for the crime 15 years later.
Morehead's Musings: Some of the unfortunate chapters in history include the American witch trials and the satanic panics of the 1980s and 1990s. There is a good scholarly body of literature on these topics that might have provided background considerations for the prosecution's argument for motive. Why weren't these considerations brought into the defense case, and in retrospect, do you feel like the socio-cultural context of Arkansas with its fundamentalist Christian population might have produced conditions that led to a contemporary witch hunt with the conviction of the West Memphis Three?
Dan Stidham: In order to answer this question, you really have to put this case into historical perspective. In 1993, the Satanic Bandwagon Folks like Dr. Griffis were mainstream and largely supported by both the media and established religion. We now know better, just like we now know that there are such things as “coerced confessions.” In 1993, virtually everybody believed that the phenomena of Satanic Ritualistic Homicide was very real, and perhaps even more regrettably, that no one, not even a mentally handicapped person, or a child, would confess to a crime that they did not commit. Thankfully, due in large part to pioneers with real credentials like Dr. Gisli Gudjohnson, Dr. Richard Ofshe, and Dr. Richard Leo, we now understand the dynamics of false confessions. By the way, not many people remember that Dr. Ofshe won a Pulitzer Prize for his work studying religious "cults." He had a dual expertise.
The conditions were quite obviously very ripe for this kind of thing to happen in Arkansas in 1993 because it did happen here in Arkansas. But I do not believe for an instant that this type of situation is unique to Arkansas. The atmosphere that allowed this type of phenomena to occur can, and does, happen anywhere and everywhere. Perhaps I am naïve, but I think that this type of thing happens more as a result of simple unadulterated intolerance to anyone different than that held by the mainstream in society, rather than due to any particular set of religious mores, or beliefs. It’s a matter of being “different,” outside the mainstream of society, wherever that happens to be. Is Arkansas different than New York City or L.A.? You bet it is. When you are in L.A., you see a thousand “Damien Echols” walking down the street and no one seems to think anything about it, or even care. People wearing Black clothing and listening to Heavy Metal Music are the norm in some places around the Country, but not in Arkansas in 1993.
Intolerance can raise it’s ugly head in many other contexts besides religion, i.e. race, age, gender, sexual preference, etc., etc. We see examples of this throughout history, both ancient and recent. Also, it is worth pointing out that the similarities between this case and what happened during the Salem Witch Trials almost exactly 300 years ago is absolutely stunning.
Remember, the first “Witch Trial” occurred in Salem, Massachusetts, not West Memphis, Arkansas! Will history repeat itself again, I hope it won’t, but unfortuneatley, I bet it will.
Morehead's Musings: As I have researched the witch trials and satanic panics, and then looked at the situation surrounding this case, it seems to me as if Christian sociophobics and the creation of an evil social other played a large role in arrests and outcome of this case. And yet curiously, while various Neo-Pagans, celebrities, musicians, and people from the general population have rallied around this case to raise awareness and raise funds for appeals, I have not been able to track down much if any concern for social injustice from Christians on this issue. Has your experience been different? Might the concerns about an alleged satanic cult involving a Wiccan confirm the worst fears and stereotypes of Christians and this then turns away any consideration of speaking out on this issue?
Dan Stidham: My experience has been quite different from the inside looking out as opposed to only being exposed to the case based on what I saw in the media. I get a lot more letters, emails, phone calls and other outpourings of support from people all over the World that you would identify more as “Christians,” than I do from people whom you would describe as “Pagans, celebrities and musicians.” The difference is, simply put, that the media shows up when “celebrities and musicians” take a stand on social issues. When John Doe Citizen starts a “WM3 Awareness Group” in Russellville, Arkansas; Lincoln, Nebraska; Ft. Meyers, Florida; or Fort Hays, Kansas, the media just doesn’t seem to care. But these are the folks who fight the fight in the trenches every day. Out there organizing fund raisers and raising awareness in their communities about this case.
Having said that, the “celebrities and musicians” who do get the media attention are an integral part of the fight for justice in this case. These are folks who have figured out that they have a unique power to change things in the World, and they are not afraid to step up and fight for what’s right. For this, I admire them greatly. They also have more resources to assist than most other folks. While I have not met them all, many of the “celebrities and musicians” that I have encountered while working on this case have left me in awe of them when I consider the magnitude of their impact and contributions to the case. I am not in awe of them because they are famous, but instead because they are famously compassionate about social justice, and the plights of others less fortunate. The more I got to know them, the more I realized that they don’t fit the stereotypes of “celebrities and musicians” and are really no different than anybody else and are truly wonderful human beings.
Morehead's Musings: Do these three young men have any hope of appeals left?
Dan Stidham: Yes, tremendous hope is still out there. While this fight is far from over, I am more hopeful today than at any other time during the past almost 15 years that I have been working on the case. Thanks to the generosity and hard work of the people I described above, in response to your last question, we have finally put together a team of lawyers, investigators and forensic experts that are second to none. I can tell you without hesitation that they are the best I have ever seen.
Morehead's Musings: How can interested readers get involved in helping with this case?
Dan Stidham: By just remembering that everyone counts and everyone can make a difference. There are support groups all over the World who are dedicated to this fight. The best place to start is the http://www.wm3.org/ website. It is filled with information on how everyone can help. Also, please continue to pray for Justice, not just for the WM3, but for Justice for the victims’ families who deserved so much better than what they got in terms of an investigation and closure for the death of their loved ones. We can also never forget that a killer is still out there, and this killer needs to be brought to justice.
Morehead's Musings: Judge Stidham, once again, I think you for making time for this interview, and thanks as well for being the only attorney from the original trials who has continued to be involved in working for justice for these young men.
Dan Stidham: I sincerely appreciate your kind and generous words and the opportunity to talk about this very unique case. I hope that you will allow me to thank some very special folks who have inspired me to keep moving forward in this case, even in it’s darkest days, and on the days when it seemed no one cared, and I was all alone in the fight. There were only two days that I wanted to quit. Not just quit the fight, but quit the legal profession as well. This was the two days after the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed Misskelley’s confession in a 7-0 decision. After licking my wounds for a couple of days, I emerged with an even stronger resolve to keep fighting, thanks to the support and encouragement from my family who never complained about all the time I was gone from home working on this case.
Also, I cannot thank enough the people from whom I got all the emails, letters and prayers from. They may have been complete strangers at the time, but a phone call or a letter of encouragement, out of the blue, would sustain me for weeks and even months. Sometimes these strangers became friends, good friends. “Good friends” are like my own family to me, and I have made many good friends from all over the world. Regrettably, I have lost touch with some of these folks over the years, but all of them have become my heroes in this case. My “heroes” have names like Bruce, Mike, Joe, Mara, Lanette, Grove, Burk, Pam, Mark, Richard, Warren, Kathy, Lisa, Eddie, Kevin, Winona, Laura, John, Mandy, Michael, Ron, and a very wonderful and special person whom I have never even actually met, at least not in person, because she lives all the way on the other side of the planet, way “down under.” She inspires me on an almost daily basis, and I must say, Jill, thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
John, I thank you, for your interest in Justice, and your interest in this case.
http://johnwmorehead.blogspot.com/2007/10/west-memphis-three-interview-with.html
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"Bratty Mama Leci"
Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11754
Location: Kentucky
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| Obscuregawdess
Posted:
Fri May 23, 2008 3:45 pm |
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Defense Theory
New evidence in the Damien Echols case disputes Satanic ritual theory.
BY BIANCA PHILLIPS | NOVEMBER 15, 2007
During the 1994 trials of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jesse Misskelley Jr. — collectively known as the West Memphis Three — there was a mystery that neither the prosecution nor the defense could explain.
Though the penis of Christopher Byers, one of three 8-year-old boys found hog-tied and murdered in a West Memphis ditch in 1993, was removed, there was no blood found at the scene.
In a 500-plus page document filed with the court October 29th, Echols' defense team attempts to explain the lack of blood. It also reports DNA results of hair and other material found at the crime scene.
"People look at this terrible genital injury and say, where's all the blood?" said Dennis Riordan, a San Francisco-based attorney who took Echols' case in May 2004. "But if [Byers] drowned before he was subjected to this wound, it wouldn't bleed."
The document suggests that the boys were drowned in a creek, and then an animal, perhaps a dog or raccoon, removed Byers' penis.
"Have you ever been at the scene where a dog has killed a person? There's no blood because, for the animal, that's the whole point," Riordan says.
Forensic pathology studies show that other wounds on the boys are consistent with those caused by animal claws and teeth.
During the trials, the prosecution suggested the murders of Byers, Stevie Branch, and Michael Moore were part of a Satanic ritual led by Echols. He was given the death penalty. Baldwin and Misskelley were both sentenced for life.
In July, news broke that DNA tests had linked hair in a shoelace used to hog-tie the boys to Terry Hobbs, Branch's stepfather. Another hair found on a nearby tree stump was linked to Hobbs' friend, David Jacoby.
In 2003, Echols' lawyers began DNA tests on existing evidence. Arkansas did not allow DNA testing on closed cases until 2001.
According to Gabe Holstrom, spokesperson for Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, it could take months for the state to study the report.
"While the state will look at the new allegations and evidence objectively, it stands behind the conviction of Echols and that of his co-defendants," Holstrom said.
Since the papers were filed in Echols' case, a new trial for Echols would not necessarily mean a new trial for Baldwin or Misskelley.
"But," Riordan says, "it would have a tremendous effect on what the state decides to do with the other two."
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"Bratty Mama Leci"
Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11754
Location: Kentucky
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| Obscuregawdess
Posted:
Fri May 23, 2008 3:50 pm |
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PEOPLE MAGAZINE
- BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT?: THE CASE OF THE WEST MEMPHIS THREE
January 11, 2008
PEOPLE Magazine covers the case with a three-page story in the current (January 21 2008) issue, on shelves now! Read the article online, right here on WM3.org!
http://www.wm3.org/live/newsevents/newsitem.php?news_Id=196
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"Bratty Mama Leci"
Joined: 02 Aug 2006
Posts: 11754
Location: Kentucky
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| Obscuregawdess
Posted:
Fri May 23, 2008 4:01 pm |
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SEEKING JUSTICE
Cruel and Unusual
Jello Biafra, Winona Ryder, Marilyn Manson and other artists come together Saturday to help the West Memphis Trio
By John Esther
The word here is Trio.
Winona Ryder, Jello Biafra and Marilyn Manson are scheduled to lend a hand to the “Cruel and Unusual” exhibit and benefit at the Sixspace Gallery in downtown Los Angeles from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday for the West Memphis Trio.
The West Memphis Trio is the name given to Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelly, three teenagers who were falsely convicted of killing three boys, Christopher Byers, Michael Moore and Stevie Branch, in West Memphis, Ark., without a single piece of evidence linking them to the crimes.
Based on an idea by artist Chad Robertson, this free event was organized by three Angelinos: Kathy Bakken, Grove Pashley and Burk Sauls, founders of www.wm3.org, a Web site supporting the West Memphis Trio.
Participating “Cruel and Unusual” artists range from Exene Cervenka, the Clayton Brothers, Edward Colver, Robbie Conal, Glen E. Freidman, Camille Rose Garcia, Shepard Fairey, Jaime Hernandez, Emmeric James Konrad, Matt Mahurin, Liz McGrath, Pashley, Robertson, Floria Sigismondi and Raymond Pettibon.
” I’m glad to contribute,” said Pettinbon, who once did album covers for the punk band Black Flag. “But it’s not really this case itself that deserves attention so much as the systematic injustice of the court system.”
True enough, but it would be hard to find a more blatant disregard for law, reason and justice than the events that led to the sentencing of two kids to life in prison and put then-18-year-old Echols on death row.
It all started on Cinco de Mayo, 1993, when the parents of Byers, Moore and Branch called the police about their children missing.
After a shoddy law enforcement search, amongst other procedures that illustrated why the police there were already under investigation for widespread corruption, the three 8-year-olds were found the next day in the Robin Hood Hills outside of West Memphis.
The discovery was horrific. The boys had their clothes ripped off and their arms and legs were tied together with their shoelaces. There were several wounds to the bodies and heads. Christopher Byers was castrated.
Despite the carnage, the site where they found the bodies showed very little blood, an indication they had been killed somewhere else and then dumped. The situation also suggested they knew their assailant.
The ghastly murders sent shockwaves through the jerkwater county where the average income was in the bottom 10 percent. Many were hysterical. The investigation foundered. Rewards were offered.
Every hick in the area was bombarding the police with tips. Some tips led somewhere, but most did not. Some that were strong were dropped with no explanation.
Jerry Driver, once a commercial airline pilot, had moved to West Memphis with his wife and ended up becoming the county’s chief juvenile officer, without proper background for the job. For him, “an expert on occults,” the murders were not a surprise. He immediately suspected Echols.
Echols was a troubled kid who lived in a trailer park, suffered from depression to the point where he had been hospitalized on numerous occasions and endured the hassles created by the mother of his girlfriend who allegedly lied to police about Damien in order to keep him away from her daughter.
During his “relationship” with Echols, Driver got it into his head that Echols was a part of a cult. Drivers obsessed over Echols, keeping tabs on him from Oklahoma to Oregon.
Echols’ relationship with Baldwin, who also listened to heavy metal and wore black clothes, only confirmed Driver’s suspicions.
Misskelly, who had a violent past and an IQ of 70, was a good friend of Baldwin’s and by the time a waitress-turned-volunteer detective named Vicki Hutcheson thought she could get Damien to confess via Misskelly, local law enforcement had set their sights on the three so-called Satan worshippers.
Useful evidence about the case, including alternative leads, was lost as a matter of course while the wildest allegations came forth.
All of a sudden the townsfolk seemed to know of Echols’ animal sacrifices.
Aaron Hutcheson — who once had a good lead in the beginning of the case regarding an African American who he saw pick up the boys the night of the murders and who may have been the same man who showed up at a local restaurant with blood all over him on the night of the murders — now embellished stories about Echols’ satanism that seemed to be incredible, but still believable to town folks.
The local press failed then, and still fails now, to seek the truth, misquoting people and misstating facts so often that Bakken, Pashley and Sauls can only laugh, despite the dire circumstances.
“ We were right there and they would get the facts wrong,” said Bakken about the post-trial motions. “One paper would say something and they would all pick up on it,” said Pashley. “For example, people kept asking us how we could say they’re innocent when they found a human skull in [Echols’] bedroom,” said Sauls. “The fact is they did not” find a skull. “That would have been proof!”
However, the prosecutors did use Echols’ little plastic skull earrings as “proof” of his satanic endeavors.
In the center of this prosecution stood John Mark Byers, Christopher’s stepfather. Here was a man with history of crime, drug abuse, snitching for the cops, violence and a whole lot of other damage, yet was incarceration-proof. Byers had conflicting alibis all the time, including the day of the murders, but the local yokels ignored these inconsistencies along with all the others.
The trial came with no proof of any sort linking the Trio to the crime, except for the illegally acquired confession without a parent or lawyer for the then-minor Misskelly, who later recanted.
Overseeing these witch trials was Judge David Burnett, who made several judicial errors, including participation in meetings with prosecutors about the case without defense attorneys present. On another occasion, Burnett urged the conclusion of the trial because he had a turkey hunt to attend.
It was a good-old fashioned persecution, a la “The Crucible.” When it was over, not only did the scared simpletons of that West Memphis jury deliver guilty verdicts, Misskelly and Baldwin, still minors, were sentenced to prison for life, while Echols, who was barely 18, was sentenced to death.
“ The United States is only one of three countries that allows the executions of minors, the other two being Iran and the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” said Sapna Mirchandani, Program Coordinator to End Juvenile Executions for the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. “Of those three, the US is the only one still active in carrying out executions.”
Young, innocent and repeatedly raped and beaten, Echols, 28, still sits on death row.
“ The real issue that goes above and beyond this case is the need to get rid of the death penalty." said Biafra. “They clearly have the wrong person.”
As is often the case when outsiders must come in and expose an unconstitutional court
system, this sham of justice would have fallen through the cracks of international attention had it not been for Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinosky’s outstanding documentary, “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills.”
Sauls had actually heard about the case but did not realize what exactly what was going on until Bakken introduced him to the documentary. The more he and the others looked into the facts, the more they noticed “this obvious case of abuse of the justice system,” said Sauls.
So he, Bakken and Pashley organized because they felt compelled to rectify this injustice.
“ It was a responsibility I didn’t even want to take,” said Pashley.
Thanks to the success of “Paradise,” Berlinger and Sinosky did a follow-up, “Paradise Lost 2: Revelations,” which, among other things, paints a very suspicious shadow on John Mark Byers.
“ After seeing the first one, I was a bit ambivalent about getting involved,” said Konrad of Lincoln Heights. “After watching the second film, I called Chad up and said I am in. … Byers is a motherfucker.”
It has been over 10 years since the Trio’s arrest and conviction for a crime they clearly did not commit. Evidence against their convictions mounts, and some witnesses have recanted their testimonies, but the “Good ol’ Boy” justice system and the superstitious saps of West Memphis are “too deep in it now,” said Pashley, to admit their shortcomings.
“ You have the brutal murder of children, which already pisses you off,” said Bakken.
“ Then you have three teenagers, and it’s all so young, so shocking. They’re not psychos. And people are like, ‘Oh, my gosh, how could they do it?’ And it becomes even more freaky because they just did not do it and the real killer is still out there. We have all these horror stories” involved in the case.
“ Yes, three innocent people are in prison is horrible,” said Konrad. “Though we t | |
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